{"id":937303,"date":"2021-10-29T12:43:56","date_gmt":"2021-10-29T16:43:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=937303"},"modified":"2021-10-29T12:43:59","modified_gmt":"2021-10-29T16:43:59","slug":"labor-union-struggles-to-clear-backlogged-ports-opposes-technology-to-efficiently-move-containers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/labor-union-struggles-to-clear-backlogged-ports-opposes-technology-to-efficiently-move-containers\/","title":{"rendered":"Labor Union Struggles to Clear Backlogged Ports, Opposes Technology to Efficiently Move Containers"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flabor-union-struggles-to-clear-backlogged-ports-opposes-technology-to-efficiently-move-containers%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=937303&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">A labor union is struggling to clear backlogged ports in California because too few cranes are available to move containers from ships to trucks, Business Insider <a href=\"https:\/\/markets.businessinsider.com\/news\/stocks\/dock-workers-explain-record-shipping-container-cargo-backlog-california-ports-2021-10\">reported<\/a> Thursday. Yet the labor union, International Longshore and Warehouse Union&nbsp;(ILWU), has opposed upgrading port technology to improve efficiency.<\/p>\n<p>The overflowing amount of containers on the docks has reportedly made it difficult for longshoreman to offload shipboard cargo. The ports are so full the number of cranes to move the cargo has reportedly been cut in half, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/shipping-containers-stuck-california-ports-combat-shortages-2021-9?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest\">along<\/a> with equipment shortages.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>As a result, ports are running 60 to 70 percent below capacity, Uffe Ostergaard, president of the North America region for German ship operator Hapag Lloyd <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/reviews\/out?platform=browser&amp;postSource=bi%7C6151ea996f685c6d2d2d35e3&amp;sc=false&amp;type=LINK-WITH-REVIEW-SLASH-OUT&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Fcargo-delays-are-getting-worse-but-california-ports-still-rest-on-weekends-11632648602&amp;sessionid=1635510392771\">told<\/a>&nbsp;the <em>Wall Street Journal<\/em>. \u201cThat\u2019s a huge operational disadvantage,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<p>A crane operator at Port of Los Angeles told Business Insider he is short seven or eight cranes to efficiently unload the massive cargo ships and avoid a port backlog.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCompanies are packing their goods into massive ships that would require seven or eight cranes to unload them at full capacity, but no terminal can handle that many cranes on the dock,\u201d the crane operator said. \u201cOur job is so much more difficult when the ports are congested. Most days, I\u2019m running with only one to two crane gangs at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>A part-time worker at Long Beach told Business Insider the port workers are trying to move the containers as quickly as possible but the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA),&nbsp;a consortium of 70 companies that&nbsp;negotiates and administers labor agreements, reportedly opposes paying workers overtime.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18491378\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"36\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/port-los-angeles-cargo-containers-night-supply-chain-getty.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-18491378 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/port-los-angeles-cargo-containers-night-supply-chain-getty.jpg\" alt=\"Trucks operate at the Port of Los Angeles during night operations on October 25, 2021 in San Pedro, California. The Port of Los Angeles is joining the Port of Long Beach in 24\/7 operations amid efforts to ease supply chain issues. (Mario Tama\/Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Trucks operate at the Port of Los Angeles during night operations on October 25, 2021 in San Pedro, California. The Port of Los Angeles is joining the Port of Long Beach in 24\/7 operations amid efforts to ease supply chain issues. (Mario Tama\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe want to work as much as possible, but the employers don\u2019t want to pay the overtime to get these problems fixed,\u201d the worker said. \u201cIt\u2019s a balancing act, they want to scrape by with just enough workers, but the more ships that come in, the worse it gets.\u201d<br \/>But the labor union, ILWU, has lost union membership over the past year, reducing the supply of port labor instead of increasing it to meet demand.<\/p>\n<p>Bloomberg&nbsp;<a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/news.bloomberglaw.com\/daily-labor-report\/port-paralysis-vexes-longshore-workers-threatened-by-automation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">reported<\/a>&nbsp;ILWU has lost 8,000 members have left in 2021 (29,000 members compared to 37,000). Business Insider reports seaports are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/global-supply-chain-crisis-ports-face-record-delays-2021-10?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest\">facing<\/a> a 28 percent worker shortage overall.<\/p>\n<p>As the labor union&nbsp;has lost membership, ILWU has refused to allow the PMA to upgrade port technology. Negotiations to allow ports to increase technology to reduce the supply chain backlog are to be resolved in 2022.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWith supply chain congestion expected to continue well into next year, we are hopeful this cooperation can extend to the contract negotiations to take place between the PMA and ILWU,\u201d PMA spokesman Randy James has&nbsp;<a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/news.bloomberglaw.com\/daily-labor-report\/port-paralysis-vexes-longshore-workers-threatened-by-automation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">stated<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>ILWU <a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/ilaunion.org\/2021\/05\/latest-long-beach-terminal-automation-draws-ilwu-backlash\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">claims<\/a>&nbsp;new port equipment could \u201celiminate 40 to 70 percent\u201d of union jobs but noted the \u201cautomation also creates new jobs associated with the installation and maintenance of electrified equipment, programming, and related functions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The lack of efficiency at the ports is a likely driver of the metastasizing supply chain crisis. Backlogs at ports are causing ships to return later then expected to Asia, where containers are waiting to be carried to the United States. What&nbsp;<a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/25\/dining\/thanksgiving-inflation-supply-chain-food-costs.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">took<\/a>&nbsp;40 days under the Trump administration to ship items from Asia to the United States now&nbsp;takes&nbsp;73 days.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18293178\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"36\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Freight-1.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18293178\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Freight-1.jpeg\" alt=\"Cargo ships filled with containers dock at the Port of Los Angeles on September 28, 2021, in Los Angeles, California. (Frederic J. Brown\/AFP via Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Cargo ships filled with containers dock at the Port of Los Angeles on September 28, 2021, in Los Angeles, California. (Frederic J. Brown\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The delays have increased the price of shipping a container from Asia to the West Coast to $17,000. The price was $3,500 in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>The price increase for shipping goods has been passed along to consumers. Food prices, for instance, have increase by 4.6 percent since 2020. More specifically, prices for meat, poultry, fish, and eggs rose 10.5 percent.<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Wendell Huseb\u00f8 on Twitter&nbsp;<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WendellHusebo?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\"><em>@WendellHuseb\u00f8<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A labor union is struggling to clear backlogged ports in California because too few cranes are available to move containers from ships to trucks, Business Insider reported Thursday. Yet the &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-937303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/937303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=937303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/937303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=937303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=937303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=937303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}